


light as a feather, knocked for a loop

by The_Doctors_Song



Category: Doctor Who RPF
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-01-12
Updated: 2013-01-14
Packaged: 2017-11-25 05:23:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,749
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/635557
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Doctors_Song/pseuds/The_Doctors_Song
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was only supposed to be a fling. Just a little meaningless fling in the spring time; nothing more, nothing less.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was beta'ed by csiwholocked33, which is why she is co-author. Because with the mistakes I make she may as well have written this herself. ;) Thank you so much! 
> 
> Title is adapted from a line in the Disney classic, Bambi. Set one year before Matt got the role as The Eleventh Doctor.

He was young. Oh, was he young. Still in his twenties, baby faced and oh so very _young_. She noticed him noticing her, sitting across the bar in a booth with a group of his friends. And he was staring at her. She was used to it of course; she was an actress so staring was something she was more than used to. But she noticed him staring and even found herself staring back, where as she normally ignored others. She sat on a stool beside her sister, her chin in her hand as she leaned against the counter. She traded looks with him, glancing away every few seconds whilst he simply stared.

“Alex?”

She turned her head, raising her brow and blinking out of her daze. “Hmm?”

Nicola snorted, shaking her head as she lifted her glass to her lips. “You haven’t heard a word I’ve been saying, have you. Something on your mind? Or is it someone?”

Alex rolled her eyes, shaking her head and playing with her own glass. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Nicola scoffed, nodding in disbelief. “Yeah, I’m sure. Come on Alex, that boy’s been staring at you all night. Even his friends’ve noticed.”

Alex looked at her, her glass raised and she shook her head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She repeated, tipping the glass back.

Nicola rolled her eyes, slipping from her stool and walking off, tossing her reply over her shoulder. “I’m going to the bathroom. You’re frustrating me.”

Alex scoffed, narrowing her eyes as she called after her, drawing attention from a few other occupants. “Me? _Never._ ”

Shaking her head, she turned back to the counter and startled, as that same boy from earlier was leaning against it just beside her. “Hey.”

Glancing at him, Alex smiled, leaning back on her elbow. “Hi.”

“Matt Smith.” The boy said, introducing himself with a shy smile as he looked over his shoulder at his friends quickly before turning back to her. “I’m uh, Matt Smith. Sorry. The um, the boys kind of roped me in to coming over here.”

Alex raised her eyebrow, nodding as she pretended to look hurt. “Oh? So it wasn’t to talk to me of your own free will? That’s quite an introduction there sweetie.” She sipped down the last of what was in her glass, turning to the bar tender and quickly gaining his attention. “I don’t suppose you’d like to talk to me, would you Ben dear?”

Ben snorted, paused in his cleaning a dingy mug with a cloth and shook his head. “Anything for you, Ms. Kingston.”

“No, no! I… I didn’t mean it that… Gah.” Matt closed his eyes tightly, shaking his head as he waved his hands around. “I’m not good at this.”

Laughing, Alex pushed her now empty glass towards Ben and winked at him, her friend nodding with a grin and turning to another customer. Swivelling in her chair to face Matt and smiling at the boy’s slumped over posture with his hands over his eyes, she cooed. “Oh, you poor thing.” Matt looked up, glancing at her through his fingers. “Could always try again dear.”

Matt grinned, straightening and dropping his hand from over his eyes, extending it instead to Alex. “Hi, I’m Matt. I couldn’t keep my eyes off you and I’ve finally bucked up the courage to come say hi. So… Hi.”

Alex giggled, her eyes darting to Ben laughing at the other side of the bar. Shaking her head, Alex took Matt’s hand and shook it slightly. “Well done. Very suave.” Matt preened, nodding firmly with a grin. “Alex Kingston.” She said, introducing herself. It was polite, after all.

“Oh, I know who you are Ms Kingston. I’ve seen everything of yours.” Alex stared at him, smiling a coy, slightly open mouthed smile until he’d taken the few seconds it took him to realize what he’d said. “Dammit!” Matt groaned, leaning on the counter on both his arms and hanging his head. “Did it again, didn’t I?”

Lifting a small hand, Alex placed it on his back and patted his shoulder. “There there dear, I wouldn’t have done those roles if I didn’t think people would see it.” Matt laughed, nodding his head as he turned back towards her. “Besides dear, things have changed quite a bit since then.”

His eyes widened and then wandered down her body. Clearing his throat, Matt shifted on his feet and Alex was flatteringly surprised to see a red tinge in his cheeks. “I don’t think much could have.” Alex quirked an eyebrow.

“Oh? Is this you hoping to find out personally?”

Matt grinned, shrugging slightly and bringing a hand up to rub at his neck. “Would it work?”

Laughing, Alex tilted her head. “Maybe when you’re older.” She winked, enjoying the attention she was receiving from such a young man, a boy really.

“I’m old enough.”

Alex looked Matt up and down, raising her eyebrow and smiling. “Are you really?”

Matt gaped. “Oi!”

Alex laughed, shaking her head as someone who she assumed was one of Matt’s friends tapped him on the shoulder. “We gotta go mate.” Matt nodded, his eyes still on Alex. “Go on, I’ll catch up.”

Alex watched as his friend jogged up the steps to the entrance, talking quietly to the group Matt had been sitting with before. “You should go.”

Matt nodded, clearing his throat and shuffling on his feet. “I uh, I will. I just wanted to ask – “

“Why, hello there.” Alex turned her head as Nicola sidled up to her side. She smiled, looking Matt up and down before glancing at Alex and winking. “Finally bucked up the courage did you?”

Alex closed her eyes, cursing her sister’s forwardness in her head. “Uh, yeah. Yeah I did. I was just, just going. But I was wondering if maybe, maybe first I could get your number?” Alex flicked her eyes open again to see Matt looking at her while Nicola glanced expectantly between them. Nicola, apparently not being able to wait for her to answer, jumped in. “Here.” She took his phone, turning away from them.

“Nicola!” Alex gaped, shaking her head as Matt chuckled nervously. “If uh, you don’t… I don’t have to keep it, if you don’t want me to.” Alex shook her head, smiling at him. “No, no. My sister should just know better.” She narrowed her eyes at Nicola as she handed Matt his phone back, grinning at him and retaking her seat. “Bye lover boy.”

Alex closed her eyes, shaking her head and looking at Matt. “I’m so sorry.” Matt grinned, looking at his phone screen before looking up at her. “No, it’s fine. I’ll um… I’ll call you?”

Alex smiled, nodding as Matt put his phone in his pocket. “I look forward to it darling.” Matt waved, walking off and glancing back once as he left the bar. Smiling, Alex turned in her seat, coming face to face with Ben and Nicola, who were both grinning widely at her. “What?”

Ben snorted out a laugh, topping off their glasses and throwing the cloth over his shoulder. “You cougar you.”

Alex pursed her lips, shaking her head and tipping the glass back indignantly. “I’m not a cougar! It was just… just nice. To flirt so openly, and with someone who didn’t have to flirt back just because it was a line.”

Nicola rolled her eyes. “Oh come on Alex. Everyone flirts with you. You _like_ him.”

Rolling her eyes, Alex looked down at the counter. “I do not!”

“Alex, love; you do” She looked up and glared at Ben, her friend backing away a step and holding up his hands. “Hear me out.”

Sighing, Alex lifted a hand and waved, gesturing for him to go on as she spun the now mostly empty glass in her hands.

“Look. You like him, it’s obvious. So try it. It’s the end of February now. Just try it as a- a ‘spring fling,’ if you will. Three months. That’s it.”

Alex pursed her lips again, peer up from her glass to Ben and then to Nicola, who was nodding her head with a conspiratory smirk, and she sighed. She tipped the glass back, wincing at the burn in her throat as she drained the last of her quite strong manhattan. Placing it on the counter, she cleared her throat and sighed again. “Okay. Three months, that’s it. _If_ it even lasts that long.”

Nicola squealed, laughing and clapping as she drained her own glass in celebration. Ben nodded, grinning and leaning over the counter to kiss her forehead. “That’a girl Alex.”

“Oh, and think of the sex!”

“Nicola!”

XX

Alex had gone home that night with a buzz in her head and a stumble in her step. She rarely let herself get genuinely drunk, and it took an awful lot of alcohol to make her so, but drinking with her sister was setting herself up for a morning of headaches and hangover. There’s a reason they were generally separated at family dinners.

Collapsing onto her bed at just after midnight, she rooted through her pocket for her keys and her phone, the two objects digging in to her side painfully. Tossing the keys on to the bedside table, Alex flipped open her phone and checked for her sister’s customary ‘got home safe, don’t wake me in the morning’ text. She frowned when she saw an unread message from an unknown number. Opening it, she read with a growing smile.

-          _Hey, it’s Matt. Just thought I’d text you while you still know who I am. Do you think I’m old enough yet?_

Shaking her head, Alex looked up wearily at the clock beside her.

-1:43AM-

_Was it too late to text him back? Or was it too early, considering it’s technically now morning…? Would he want her to text him back? Of course, he texted her first, and ended with a question. That meant he expected an answer, right? Then again, he could’ve just been humouring her. Maybe she should –_

Alex shook her head, shutting her eyes. “What am I doing?” She sounded like a teenage girl waiting for her boyfriend to text her back. She’d only just met the man, for god’s sake. “Boy. He’s a boy, Alex.” Alex frowned, groaning. “A boy you promised Nic and Ben you’d give at least a try. Dammit.” Alex turned over on to her stomach, biting her lip as she considered what to write.

-          **_Are you suggesting I’d forget you? Never, darling. And old enough? It’s only been a few hours dear... I think you’ve still got a while yet._**

Alex frowned as she hit send, quickly typing in another message before flipping the phone shut.

-          **_I’m sorry if this woke you darling_**

Leaving her phone atop the covers, Alex slid off her bed and wrapped her arm under her shoulder, unzipping her dress and letting it drop to the floor. She managed to keep Matt out of her thoughts until she was standing under the hot water of the shower. Alex bit her lip and let her head fall forward against the wall. _Cougar? That’s what Ben had said. That’s what the press would say, if they got wind of anything… Which they would. They’d notice something was going on straight away and would be all over it in a matter of da-_

_Be all over what? Nothing was going on. Nothing would be going on, would it? Who’s to say anything between her and Matt, this adorably flirtatious boy so many years younger than her, would even last the three months she’d agreed on?_ Groaning, Alex firmly resolved to put all thoughts of Matt and his nervous yet cheeky smile and his green eyes that skimmed over her body in appreciation and his –

“Stop it!”

Turning her back to the wall, Alex reached up for her shampoo and scrubbed at her still-wild-when-wet hair, lathering it almost painfully as if trying to rub Matt from her brain.

When she fell back on to her bed, now clean and absolutely exhausted, Alex crawled back and rested her head on the pillow. Feeling her phone underneath her arm, she picked it up and paused at the flashing light. Biting her lip, she flipped open the phone and opened Matt’s reply.

-          _So you’re sure you wouldn’t consider lunch sometime?_

-          _Wasn’t asleep. Wanted to see if you’d answer… ;)_

Alex tried to hold back a smile, shaking her head and replying quickly.

-          **_Aren’t you sweet. And I never said that dear. Tomorrow? If you’re free. I’m exhausted though, so I’m afraid it’s goodnight for me. XX_**

Alex realized a moment too late that signing it with XX was probably a bad idea, and cursed herself as she stared at the ceiling. _She was really doing this. She was actually going to do this._ “Damn you Nicola. Damn you Ben.” Turning over and slipping her feet beneath the duvet, she stared at her phone. “Damn you Matt.” And her phone lit up once more, just as she slipped into unconsciousness. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's so much fluffy flirting in this chapter, I think I died a little.
> 
> Thanks to beta-er csiwholocked33, who without this fic would be a million times worse.

Waking the next morning was quite the chore for Alex. She’d opened her eyes and immediately closed them, biting back a groan as she realized that she’d forgotten to shut the blinds before falling asleep the night before. Her eyes closed tightly and her face buried in her pillow, she curled up in to a ball and pulled her duvet as high up over her body as she could manage. Turning away from the window, she attempted to force the pounding in her head away by sheer power of will, simultaneously cursing her sister’s name.

 

She squirmed around beneath the covers and trying desperately to get comfortable when she knocked her elbow against the cold plastic of her phone, hidden under the unused pillow on the other side of the bed. Blinking her eyes open to the streaming sunshine more gently this time, Alex pulled the phone out and stared at it, the tiny flashing light in the corner of its screen immediately bringing back a memory from the night before. Suddenly her eyes were wide open and her body sitting stiffly upright, the phone clutched in her hands in panic.

 _Oh no. Oh no, what have I done? I should’ve never let Nic take me out. What am I going to do?_ Swallowing the large lump in her throat, she closed her eyes tightly and sighed, preparing herself for the worst. After a deep breath, she flipped open her mobile, bit her lip and opened her eyes.

-          _Sweet? I’m not sweet! I’m manly! I’ll show you tomorrow. You’ll see. Goodnight, Kingston ;)_

Against  her wishes, a smile crept across her lips and Alex found herself giggling like a schoolgirl. Burying her face into her pillow once more, she did her best  to stop smiling giddily, and to make the warmth blooming in her stomach quell.

She was not successful.

Rolling onto her back after a few minutes, Alex stared up at the ceiling, gripping her phone tightly in her hand. _She could do this. She really, really could. As Ben said, it only had to be a ‘spring fling’. Just something to relieve the tension that had been building up in her since her divorce with Florian. And she was only here for a couple of months. She’d be back in America with her daughter soon, and long distance – whatever she participated in – hardly ever worked out. Three months of good shagging, nice dinners and someone to keep her warm at night might be exactly what she needed._

She nodded to herself, and made a mental note to thank Ben for the idea. A moment later, her fingertips were flying over the keyboard.  

-          **Morning darling. I look forward to you attempting to show me just how ‘manly’ you are. Lunch? And now I’m “Kingston?”**

Satisfied with her text, Alex hit send and dropped the phone as she slid with new motivation from the warmth of her bed. She padded across the room to her wardrobe, standing with her hand on her hip and biting the nail of her index finger as she looked through her heaps of clothes _. Do I even have anything appropriate to wear? Honestly, the boy – Man. Man. Think of him as a man Alex_ _– but God, is he even in his thirties?_ Shaking her head vigorously, she set herself back to the task at hand. She needed something that was both suitable for a first date and age appropriate, but that didn’t make her look like a grandmother. And sexy. It had to be sexy.

_Sexy?_

No, it needed to be pretty, flattering, gorgeous. Not sexy. Not yet at least.

Alex scanned her wardrobe with narrowed eyes, mentally crossing off outfit options until she was sure absolutely nothing she owned would be right for this particular lunch date. _Not with such a young, sweet, unconventionally handsome boy such as Matt. Lord, I really have got to stop referring to him as a boy._

Sighing, Alex covered her eyes and reached blindly into her wardrobe. She ended up pulling out a pair of casual jodhpurs and her favourite tank top, which she pulled on over the lacey bra and knickers she was still wearing from the night before, throwing a vest on top and glancing at herself in the mirror. It didn’t look like she was trying too hard… Did it? Shaking her head no, and muttering to herself about how ‘silly’ she was being, Alex sat on the edge of her bed and reached beneath it in search of  some shoes.

Feeling a vibration across the mattress, Alex startled. Turning quickly, she peeled back the sheets of her bed in search of her phone and groaned when she saw it wasn’t beside her pillow where she’d left it. Grumbling, she stood and searched every layer of covers, as her phone seemed to have drowned in the rather absurd amount of blankets she insisted on sleeping with.

Finally finding it under a bundle of fleece at the foot of her bed, Alex sat down again, resuming her search for shoes as she flipped it open.

-          _‘Attempting’! I’ll have you know that I don’t need to ‘attempt’ to be manly at all. Lunch sounds fantastic. And… well… Kingston. It’s your name ;) –_

-          _Oh, and good morning -_

Alex rolled her eyes as she clutched a pair of converse Salome convinced her to buy. Pulling them on before replying, Alex grinned as she hit send and pocketed her phone.

-          **We’ll see ‘lover boy’. And my name is Alex :P –**

She frowned as she entered her kitchen, pursing her lips and tilting her head to the side slightly as she flicked on the kettle. Since when did she put smiley faces at the end of her texts? Alex shook her head as she started making herself a cup of tea. She was overthinking things again. Nic would surely hit her upside the head if she were here. _No, she’d probably take my phone and start texting the poor man lewd things in my name_.  Thinking on it though, Alex came to the truthful conclusion that whatever Nic came up with surely couldn’t be as fabulously bad as the flirty things her own mind could conjure up, and with very little effort. She smirked at the thought, becoming quite lost in her imagination, causing her to overshoot her cup by a few inches when she tipped the pot to pour herself a cup of tea.

She hissed slightly when she spilled the incredibly hot water onto her hand. Shaking it off, she carefully set down the kettle and moved to the sink, running her hand under the cold water spilling from the tap and glancing nervously down at her pocket. Turning the tap off and quickly drying her hands, she patted gently at the red skin on the back of her hand before fishing the phone from her pocket.

-          _Is that a promise? And Kingston’s your name! I like Kingston.   –_

-          _I can stop calling you that if you want though… -_

Alex hastily replied, sure she could hear his disappointment even through a text message. Biting her lip, she set her phone down on the counter to stare anxiously at it, as if waiting for it to jump back up at her like a  poisonous snake.

-          **If you’re lucky. No, no! It’s fine. Really. I kind of like it ;) –**

That was okay, wasn’t it? A little harmless flirting, it wasn’t anything big or overly obvious. She didn’t come right out and say ‘I want to be able to shag you senseless for the next three months and then leave for another country without really having to see you again’. Not that she wanted that. She’d been coerced… Right?

Sure, she’d found Matt attractive. She wouldn’t have been discretely checking him out all night if she hadn’t. And he _was_ unbelievably sweet. All flustered and embarrassed and absolutely _nothing_ like the men she was used to hitting on her.

But then Matt wasn’t a man, was he? No, he was still a boy. Young and carefree. Not accustomed to the world as she’d grown to be. Not as untrusting as the world had made her. He _was_ young, but maybe that’s exactly what she needed. A fresh start, as they say.

And what better a ‘fresh start’ than a ‘spring fling’ with a twenty-something-year-old?

Nodding, assuring herself that no, the flirting wasn’t too heavy and that no, she probably didn’t scare him off, Alex carried her cup of tea and her phone in to the living room, flicking on the TV and settling onto the couch with her feet tucked comfortably beneath her.

Her phone vibrated once again as soon as she had lifted her tea cup to her lips. Eyes still focused on the television in front of her, she reached blindly for the beeping device and flipped it open, preparing to read a text before realizing that actually, Matt had called her. Swallowing a ridiculously large mouthful of steaming hot tea, she winced as it scalded her throat and answered with a raw, half-choking ‘Hello?’.

-          _“Alex? Are you okay? Was this a bad time – or, something?”_

Coughing slightly with her hand pressed to her chest, Alex stuttered over a reply.

“I-I’m fine darling, I just – I was – I choked a little when you called”

Alex knew the moment the words passed her lips that it was the wrong thing to say. She could already hear Matt’s snickering through the phone; see his smugly satisfied grin as he assumed she meant it was because of him. Which, technically it was. Though she knew he’d assume it was actually _him_ that caused her lack of breathing. He may be sweet, but he was still a man. And all men were the same in at least one aspect. Pride, it seemed, would be Matt’s.

-          _“I made you choke in anticipation, did I? I’m that irresistible?”_

Alex rolled her eyes, smiling at the oddly proud tone of his voice.

“Dear, I was drinking tea when my phone vibrated unexpectedly. Tea is irresistible. You are –“ Alex paused, pursing her lips as she thought of a word that could make him as indignant as possible. She did love a good tease. “ – Adorable. You’re adorable.”

Matt made a scorned sound, half-insulted and half-shocked. She giggled softly as he spluttered, gaping around words as if he couldn’t think of anything to possibly retort with. Alex shook her head, reaching forward and stealing the remote from the coffee table and turning the TV to mute.

-          _“I am not – Adorable! Adorable is for, for little kids with, I don’t know, ice-cream smothered over their face!”_

“Oh, wouldn’t that be just the _cutest_?!” Alex exclaimed, sitting straighter as she grinned broadly. It really was so much fun, all this flirting and oh, the images! She really could see him covered in ice-cream, though what she was painting in her mind was most definitely _not_ cute, or adorable.

Matt gasped again, and Alex could tell by the shift in his voice that he was a dramatic one. His hand was probably placed over his heart and he was probably swooning right then from the sheer _shock_ of such words.

-          _“You wound me Kingston. Really, properly wound me.”_

Alex muffled a laugh, clearing her throat and cooing just as she had the night before. “Oh, you poor thing”.

She really does laugh this time, because it’s almost like she’s paying homage to the agreement she’d found herself falling into with poor unaware Matt. He, of course, takes it as her teasing him again, and immediately hurtles into another rant about how ‘no, he wasn’t cute or adorable. He was in fact manly, and he’d prove it to her. And she had better stop laughing before he hangs up and crawls under his sheets to cry’. Alex can’t help but start a new round of giggles at this, bitting her lip as she tried to stifle her laughter, but it’s no use.

“You are such a drama queen Mr. Smith.”

Once again, he squawks indignantly, but even he lets loose a chuckle or two. It’s then that she realizes exactly what he’s done.

He’s broken the ice.

Of course, she knew that there wasn’t much ice to break. She’d already decided to give him a shot, and they really had gotten on _famously_. But there was always that awkwardness that surrounded a first call, or a first date, and Alex had never quite figured out how to get past that quickly and painlessly.

Matt, it seemed, had.

Shaking her head, smiling at her revelation and newfound enthusiasm, Alex quickly turned the TV off and stood from the couch. “So… Lunch? Unless you had another idea in mind, I was thinking about this fantastic café just around the corner from the bar we met at last night.”

-          _“Co-incidentally, I was just going to suggest there. I get my lunch from Raoul’s every Thursday”_

Smiling, something she expected she’d be doing quite a lot when he was involved, Alex placed her cup in the sink and vowed to clean up later.

“Raoul is a good friend of mine. He knew my father.”

It was an off-handed comment, not something that as overly important but more as something to keep the conversation alive. Which, really, wasn’t all that necessary considering they’d be seeing each other soon enough anyway.

-          _“Do you know everyone in London, or just those with the good food and the good drinks?”_

Shaking her head and rolling her eyes, she grabbed her keys from the kitchen bench and threw them in to her bag. “Actually, I _do_ know quite a few people in that area. You’d be surprised how many of them came from areas outside of London.”

Matt laughed breathlessly, and Alex could just make out the soft slam of a car door and him whispering the address that they agreed to meet on. _He’s in a taxi. I wonder how far away he lives._ And why he would go out of his way to see her?

-          _“I suppose you’ll have to introduce me to them all? As far as I’m aware, I’m known as ‘You with the usual!’, and that’s a name I can’t fit down in the name box on any of their in-store competition – things.”_

Laughing softly, pushing the door of her apartment building open, she drew her arm tightly around her chest. The café was only two blocks from where she stayed, and she usually walked anyway. Spring, while quite warm in most other countries, was still the same in England. Though the sun might make more appearances then than it usually did, it was rare that it did. It wasn’t quite cold enough for her to need a jumper, but it was still slightly chilly.

“I tell you what, I’ll meet you at the café, and after lunch we could go for a walk around? I can introduce you to them, and you can finally have a name that doesn’t sound like it should be hyphenated.”

Matt hummed his agreement, quickly saying a ‘not-quite-goodbye’ before hanging up. Alex grinned to herself as she folded the phone closed, dropping it in her bag and glancing up at the sky.

So much flirting in less than twenty-four hours! Alex could safely say she was both excited and dreading what the next a possible three months could bring. 


End file.
